Tuesday, March 30. 2010

After its release was pushed back from February 2010, Future X-Cops is finally opening on March 30, 2010 in China and the production has been going on a series on publicity events. Both Andy Lau and Barbie Hsu were worried about that the quality of the special effects initially, but their fears were allayed after watching the film at a test screening.

Following the death of his wife Fan Bing Bing on a mission, Andy Lau travels back in time with his daughter Xu Jiao and teams up with Barbie Hsu to protect Fan Siu Wong and his gang from assassinating the scientist whose green invention would drastically affect the income of an oil conglomerate.

Tuesday, March 30. 2010

Producer Gordon Chan explains the origin of the Chinese title for the film, "In the title 《精武风云》 Jing Wu Feng Yun, Jing Wu refers to my Fist of Legend, while Feng Yun denotes director Andrew Lau's Stormriders. My story, his look and feel, a la Stormriders. This is how the title came about."
Continue reading "Return of Chen Zhen: A Trend-setter or Follower?"

Monday, March 29. 2010

At Ip Man 2 press conference on March 23, 2010, Donnie Yen boldly declares, "While there are a handful of Yip Man projects out there, this is the one and only film everyone has actually seen. So, from my standpoint, there is only one Ip Man film - the one I acted in. Yip Man is an otaku who fights very well, the movie's success has nothing to do with Wing Chun (Spring).

Sunday, March 28. 2010

In a magazine interview, Nicholas Tse speaks of his villainous role in Shaolin: In Shaolin, I have always been following brother Andy Lau, he's my boss, but I want to kill my boss, for I find him too outdated, he hesitates too much, is too conservative. In each era, you would always have to remove away any obstructions in front of you, before you yourself could move up. He is my boss, he is always ordering me around, so when could I become the boss? So, I get rid of him, by enlisting the help of my master Xiong Xin Xin.

Thursday, March 25. 2010

-- Monkey King: Wreaking Havoc in Heavenly Palace --Filmko's 3D live action 《大闹天宫》 Monkey King will be shot on IMAX and directed by Cheang Pou Soi, while Jet Li and Donnie Yen are being eyed for the title role Sun Wu Kong. The production is now scouting location for Mountain of Fruits and Flowers, Water Curtain Cave, etc and has finished blueprints for the sets of three fantasy realms Inferno Mountain, Heavenly Palace, Dragon Palace, and will soon be building the sets. The film, written by Edmond Wong, is budgeted at 250m yuan and scheduled for production in October 2010. Netease

Wednesday, March 24. 2010

-- Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen --Recently, a brief preview clip of Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen was shown at Hong Kong Filmart 2010, the visitors were all very impressed by the action scenes that they could never have had enough, but noted Donnie Yen's resemblance to Kato from Green Hornet.

Donnie Yen explains that he had been discussing with director Andrew Lau at length, hoping to make a breakthrough in his appearance, and eventually, they decided to create this comicbook superhero outfit. In addition, the film will be a departure from Donnie Yen's previous action choreographies, presenting something completely new.

Wednesday, March 24. 2010

-- New Dragon Inn --At this year's Hong Kong Filmart, Tsui Hark was seen trying out 3D cameras, putting on 3D lenses to see the effects, and making enquiries about the 3D equipment, going from one booth to another. When asked about his next work, Tsui Hark reveals that he is planning to shoot a 3D version of New Dragon Inn remake. Right now, it's not known for sure if New Dragon Inn 3D would be a retelling of the original film, or some kind of sequel, and no cast is attached. The film begins production no earlier than 2011. Sohu

Sunday, March 21. 2010

While the film by director Benny Chan is currently undergoing production for close to three months, they already have had a full length 2 minutes teaser trailer, released, in time for Hong Kong Filmart.

It offers a look around of the set of Shaolin Temple, glimpses of the cast Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse, Wu Jing, Yu Hai, Xing Yu, Fan Bing Bing, etc. in action, as well as a healthy dosage of predominantly Seven-star Boxing training scenes, one of which is led by Wu Jing, and fight sequences. Talk about speed and efficiency.

Sadly, even till today, it seems Chinese/Hong Kong filmmakers still show little concerns for the animals, in particularly, the horses, when making films, the most common of which is the tripping and felling of horses galloping at high speed. Even in this production funded by Shaolin Temple, that advocates non-violence, the horses weren't spared the agonies.

In this case, as the trailer shows, an awning came crashing down upon the horses, that weren't anticipating, unlike human stuntmen, the dangers they would be in. Surely, wouldn't it be highly risky, pernicious and painful to have such a huge structure falling on our own heads, as well as the risk of debris getting into our eyes? Were there any safety measures taken? Were there any forms of protection gear or guards? Just as we don't want any harm to come our ways, we must treat animals, who are here to help us, bless us, and beautify our world, with kindness, care and respect.

Saturday, March 20. 2010

Little Big Soldier is coming to Blu-ray and DVD, both containing special features, on April 10, 2010.

Set during the final years of the Warring States period of ancient China, the costume crowd-pleaser stars Jackie as a cowardly soldier of Liang, who has captured a heavily wounded young general of rival kingdom Wei through sheer luck. Hoping that he will be rewarded and possibly discharged from the army, the soldier, who longs for peace and freedom, takes the captive along on his way back home. Their initial animosity gradually turns into friendship as the odd couple encounters danger in the shape of refugees, nomads, and the Wei armies on their eventful journey.

Saturday, March 20. 2010

In the final years of Ming dynasty, the Imperial Guards have come under the control of power-hungry eunuch Jia Jingzhong. Secretly conspiring with an exiled prince to rebel against the emperor, the corrupt eunuch frames the Jinyiwei captain Qinglong for treason and orders his death. With his fellow Imperial Guards, and the deadly assassin Tuotuo after him, the beleaguered fugitive fights his way out and is joined on his run by Qiao Hua, the daughter of a security agency leader. Together, they set out to stop Jia's conspiracy with help from a powerful bandit king.